The present invention is directed to an interchangeable cutter mechanism for cutting individual pictures from a continuous strip and more specifically to a plurality of cutter blocks each of which is comprised of a stationary cutting block and a movable cutting block of different sizes for use with a common drive means for cutting pictures having rounded corners from continuous strips of paper having different widths.
In general, continuous strips of printing paper are cut for every picture frame according to one of the three different cutting methods illustrated in FIG. 1. In FIG. 1A the continuous strip of printing paper is cut along the center line of the white frame portion which separates each picture so that each picture has a portion of the white strip attached thereto. In FIG. 1B the continuous strip of printing paper is cut twice with a single edge cutter or once with a double edged cutter so that each cut picture does not have any portion of the white strip attached thereto. In FIG. 1C the continuous strip of printing paper is cut once with a double edge cutter wherein each cutter edge is provided with rounded corners so that no portion of the white strip appears on either picture.
When continuous strip printing papers are cut in accordance with the various methods, different types of cutters are used. However, a problem is encountered when the size or width of a continuous strip of printing paper is varied. The paper width generally varies from 82.5 to 127 mm.
As is apparent from FIGS. 1A and 1B wherein straight cutting is involved, a single cutter of sufficient length may be used even when the paper width is changed. However, in the case of round corner cutting the edges must be in agreement with a specific paper width and accordingly the cutting edges must be changed whenever the paper width is changed.
Heretofore, in such a case, the cutter was disassembled to a considerable extent to replace the cutting edges and was then reassembled. Such a procedure required a considerable amount of time and labor. In order to minimize the time and labor required for dissembling and reassembling the cutter, a method was previously proposed in which a unit including not only the cutting edges but also the driving means for the cutting edges was replaced by another complete unit. However, such a method was not economical because a large number of parts are duplicated for each unit.
In most cutter mechanisms, a plurality of pairs of rollers and mechanisms for driving the rollers are arranged adjacent to the cutting mechanism so as to convey a continuous strip of printing paper past the cutting mechanism to obtain individual pictures by cutting the pictures from the strip. Therefore, in view of the proximity of the paper feed means it is extremely difficult to obtain access to the cutting mechanism for replacing only the cutting edges.